Man stalked by giant crocodile for two weeks before being rescued

Rescuer Don MacLeod says he believes the saltwater crocodiles are becoming more accustomed to humans in the area.

ciamabue, file photo: www.flickr.com

A kayaker has been rescued off Western Australia's far northern coast after being stalked by an enormous crocodile for two weeks.

Kalumburu resident Don MacLeod says he spotted a light on Governor Island, which led him to chance upon the New Zealand tourist on Saturday.

It is understood the man had been dropped off by a boat to explore the area in his kayak with some water and food.

Mr MacLeod says the tourist could not leave the island for a fortnight because he feared being eaten by the crocodile.

He tried in vain to flag down passing boats with a small fire, which probably looked like a fisherman's campfire.

Mr MacLeod told the Rural Report that he believes the animal is about six metres long.

"That crocodile I've seen him several times actually going by quite fast," Mr MacLeod said.

"One day he just happened to surface along side me as I was going past and my boat's 20 foot long so he was well up towards the 20 foot mark.

"Very, very large crocodile, one of the biggest that I know of around here.

"And [it] started following him around so he made it back to the island and pulled his kayak up as far as he could get it and headed cross country back to his camp.

"So he was reduced then to trying to conserve his water and signal [for help]."

The man was unharmed and is resting before he starts a new job - on land - at the local general store.

"We gave him a cold beer for a start, which was probably the wrong thing to do, but anyway that got him started," Mr MacLeod said.

"And then he went to sleep about three-quarters of the way home, and I gave him a meal and he had a bit of a rest."

Croc attacks becoming more common

Mr MacLeod appears to be somewhat of a knight in shining armour when it comes to rescuing people from crocodiles.

Just 24 hours after taking the New Zealand tourist to safety, he helped another man whose boat has been attacked by a crocodile.

"He went up to get some water for his yacht to continue his journey in his little tender, rowed it up and on the way back a croc grabbed it and shook it and punched some large holes in it so he managed to get back here and we pulled it up and patched it up with some putty."

Mr MacLeod says interactions with crocodiles are becoming more common, as tourists - and crocodiles - get braver.

"Nowadays, there's more and more people coming and they're losing their fear, and that's where you have these incidents unfortunately," he said.